There is a guy selling an Alpha Juno 1 on craigslist for $200, and what I'm basically asking - is it worth it? I want something that can primarily generate those spacey, new age-type pads and other sounds comparable to Vangelis' "Mvmt. 3" (the theme from "Cosmos" ) - obviously not going to be quite the same, but just that same kind of aesthetic and feel.

Also, I've worked on a few of these synths where some of the screws were missing along the bottom and back edge because the little plastic stand-offs were cracked internally usually due to mishandling. So make sure the screws are all there and that there are no bits bouncing about in side... You can usually hear then by lifting and tiling the board. $200 is about $25 too much unless the thing is minty with no issues. and has some original accouterments like the manual, case, pedals, etc.

i just picked one up for about that much.. sounds nice. one thing though, midi on it isn't the greatest. when i use a software editor, and say tweak the filter cutoff the same times as it's recieveing midi on/off messages it results in stuck notes, or notes not sounding. the editor is great for getting new sounds out of the machine, but don't expect realtime tweaking to be on point.

Underegarded synth,the alpha wheel controller great for live variations of lfo mod depth and rate,lfo goes really slow which a lot of synths dont,great sounds if you spend some time editing and $200 seems very cheap,£250-300 in uk good for pads strings bass sci fi noises great with a midi controller